Experts: Buy Citi, BofA, Other Bank Shares Despite Goldman Fiasco

Not every expert has turned bearish on financial stocks in the wake of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s decision to charge Goldman Sachs with fraud.

Matthew Albrecht, a bank stock analyst at Standard & Poor’s, and Jeffrey Harte, managing director of equity research at Sandler O'Neill, are still bullish on the sector, Goldman included.

They told CNBC that investors have overreacted to the SEC’s prosecution of Goldman.

Harte sees the recent 11 percent drop in Goldman shares as temporary. And in fact, the stock has rebounded in recent days.

"The issue's going to become: is this a one-off item — was it one rogue person — or is it a pervasive issue?" he said.

"I do not think it's a pervasive issue."

Albrecht said the recent decline in stock prices that Goldman caused among its peers gives investors an opportunity to buy Citigroup, Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase at attractive prices.

Harte adds Morgan Stanley to that list. It has recently traded at a discount to the rest of the sector thanks to sluggish financial results.

Not everyone is so sanguine about Goldman though.

“The lynch-mob mentality that is prevailing right now against Goldman is such that you don’t know where this thing could go, so I think the stock is going to be under continuing pressure,” Michael Holland, who runs his own money management firm, told Bloomberg.

“The board actually has to pay attention not only to the legal niceties of this thing but also to the franchise viability as well.”

Not every expert has turned bearish on financial stocks in the wake of the Securities and Exchange Commission s decision to charge Goldman Sachs with fraud.
Matthew Albrecht, a bank stock analyst at Standard Poor s, and Jeffrey Harte, managing director of equity research...